The semiconductor manufacturing industry is constantly seeking to improve the processes used to manufacture microelectronic circuits and components, such as the manufacture of integrated circuits from e.g., silicon wafers. The improvements come in various forms but, generally, have one or more objectives as the desired goal. The objectives of many of these improved processes include: 1) decreasing the amount of time required to process a wafer to form the desired integrated circuits; 2) increasing the yield of usable integrated circuits per wafer by, for example, decreasing the likelihood of contamination of the wafer during processing; 3) reducing the number of steps required to turn a wafer into the desired integrated circuits; and 4) reducing the cost of processing the wafers into the desired integrated circuit by, for example, reducing the costs associated with the chemicals required for the processing.
In the processing of wafers, it is often necessary to subject one or more sides of the wafer to a fluid in either liquid, vapor or gaseous form. Such fluids are used to, for example, etch the wafer surface, clean the wafer surface, dry the wafer surface, passivate the wafer surface, deposit films on the wafer surface, etc. Control of the physical parameters of the processing fluids, such as their temperature, molecular composition, dosing, etc., is often quite crucial to the success of the processing operations. As such, the introduction of such fluids to the surface of the wafer occurs in a controlled environment. Typically, such wafer processing occurs in what has commonly become known as a reactor.
Various reactor constructions and configurations are known and used in the industry. However, it has now been recognized that demands for future semiconductor manufacturing processes may ultimately require more control and economic efficiency from the reactor. As such, a substantially new approach to processing and reactor design has been undertaken, with the objective of providing greater control of the fluid processes currently used in connection with microelectronic manufacturing, and to provide improved processes.
An apparatus for processing a workpiece in a micro-environment is set forth. Workpiece is defined as an object that at least comprises a substrate, and may include further layers of material or manufactured components, such as one or more metallization levels, disposed on the substrate. The apparatus includes a workpiece housing preferably connected to be rotated by a rotor motor. The workpiece housing further defines a substantially closed processing chamber in which one or more processing fluids are distributed across at least one face of the workpiece by centrifugal accelerations generated during rotation of the housing.
Additionally, the reactor includes several advantageous mechanical features including those that allow the reactor to be used with robotic wafer transfer equipment, those that allow the reactor to be readily re-configured for different processes, and those that allow the processing chamber of the reactor to be easily removed and serviced.